The Alphabet House Nursery Schools

Inspection of The Alphabet House Nursery Schools Barratts Apartments, Waterside Park, Bramwell Way, LONDON E16 2GR

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement

The quality of education Requires improvement Behaviour and attitudes Requires improvement Personal development Requires improvement Leadership and management Requires improvement Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Good

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The provision requires improvement

Children are welcomed warmly into an inviting and safe nursery. They are happy and keen to try activities that cover the seven areas of learning. Children enjoy sensory experiences and become engrossed when feeling different textures. However, expectations for children's behaviour or learning are not routinely high. Staff are not deployed well and, on occasions, do not join in with children's play for long enough to ensure that they help children to build on what they already know and can do. This means children are not always able to make the swift progress they are capable of.

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The provision requires improvement

Children learn about the 'golden rules', such as learning to share toys. However, staff do not teach children why negative behaviour is unacceptable, or help them to understand their teachers' expectations of them. This results in children disturbing each other's play and learning. Furthermore, staff do not teach children about the impact their actions may have on other children and how it makes other children feel. These weaknesses mean that children do not develop their social and emotional skills as well as they could.

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The provision requires improvement

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, parents have not had access to the nursery as they normally would. Nonetheless, parents speak highly of the parent app that the nursery uses to communicate with them. Staff use this to share information with parents regularly, to help them know what their children are learning in the nursery.

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need to do better?

n Overall, the manager knows what she wants children to learn. This is shared with staff to help children to gain the skills they need for future learning, such as communication skills. For instance, staff support children's language skills well during story time. They teach children the meaning of words such as 'tooth' and 'teeth', and help them to understand how to use these in the right context. n Adult-led activities are successful in helping children to consolidate and remember long-term what they have previously been taught. Staff revisit previous learning, such as about oral health, to help children to become confident in their understanding of good hygiene and how to manage this themselves. n Leaders form positive relationships with other agencies that work with children. For instance, they gather useful information from other professionals to know how best to support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities

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need to do better?

(SEND). However, this information is not shared effectively with the staff team to ensure they are fully aware of how to support these children in all aspects of their development. This impacts negatively on progress that children with SEND

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need to do better?

13 October 2021 make. n Staff are not deployed effectively throughout the nursery and do not recognise instances where children are behaving poorly. Children, therefore, do not get consistent feedback about their behaviour. This means children do not make the best possible progress they could in their personal, social and emotional development. Weaknesses in staffing arrangements, at times, impact negatively on children's care needs. For instance, key people are not always the ones deployed to support children who are in the early stages of settling in. This means that children's emotional needs and well-being are not routinely well supported from the outset. n The manager has recently implemented more frequent and regular monitoring systems to help them to evaluate the quality of education. However, these processes are not embedded. As a result, current monitoring procedures do not ensure that weaknesses in staff practice are recognised swiftly. As a result,

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need to do better?

actions are not consistently taken to improve education and care for children. n Children learn about healthy lifestyles. They have regular opportunities to be active in the local park and develop their physical skills. Children learn to be independent. For example, they are able to manage their toileting needs independently, and learn to wash their hands. Staff support children to serve themselves at mealtimes, which helps to build children's self-esteem as they begin to do things without help.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

The manager and staff understand their safeguarding responsibilities. They understand the signs that may indicate a child is at possible risk of harm, and know how to report their concerns to keep children safe. Staff have regular opportunities to update their safeguarding knowledge, such as through online training. The premises are safe and secure. Staff follow safety procedures well, such as regularly assessing risks in all areas that children use, and identifying and removing any hazards.

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Due date

deploy all staff team members to ensure children are supported in their play, and that their learning and care needs are fully met. 18/11/2021

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should:

n improve the quality of communication from leaders to staff, so that staff have a better understanding of how they can support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities, or who are otherwise delayed in their learning n teach children about the consequences of their actions, so that they know what is expected of them and understand the impact their behaviour has on other children n embed monitoring systems to swiftly recognise weaknesses in staff practice, and take action to improve the quality of care and education provided.

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Setting details

Unique reference number EY498058 Local authority Newham Inspection number 10208900 Type of provision Childcare on non-domestic premises Registers Early Years Register Day care type Full day care

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inspection

Total number of places 42 Number of children on roll 66 Name of registered person The Alphabet House Nursery Schools Limited

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reference number

Telephone number 02038451539 Date of previous inspection 9 July 2018

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Information about this early years setting

The Alphabet House Nursery Schools registered in 2015. The nursery is situated in Pontoon Dock, in the London Borough of Newham. The nursery opens Monday to Friday, between 8am until 6pm, all year round. There are eight staff who work with the children, seven of whom hold relevant early years qualifications. The manager holds a level 6 qualification. One member of staff holds a level 5 qualification, two hold a level 3 qualification, and three have a level 2 qualification. The setting is in receipt of funding for the provision of free early education for children aged two and three years.

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Inspection activities

n This was the first routine inspection the setting received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. The inspector discussed the impact of the pandemic with the provider and has taken that into account in their evaluation of the setting. n We carried out this inspection as a result of a risk assessment, following information we received about the provider. n The manager and the inspector conducted a joint learning walk, where the manager explained what they want children to learn at the nursery. n The inspector and the manager undertook an observation of a teaching activity together to consider the quality of education. n Parents provided feedback on their experience of the nursery, and the inspector engaged with children at appropriate times during the inspection. n The inspector looked at documents relating to the suitability of those working with children, including their early years and first-aid qualifications.

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Inspection activities

We carried out this inspection under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 on the quality and standards of provision that is registered on the Early Years Register. The registered person must ensure that this provision complies with the statutory framework for children's learning, development and care, known as the early years foundation stage.

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Inspection activities

13 October 2021 regulates and inspects to achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children's social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, further education and skills, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children's services, and inspects services for looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspection activities

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Inspection activities

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Inspection activities

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Inspection activities

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